Breaking the News
by alb33
Summary: Hermione and George have been dating for nearly three weeks and are finally ready to break the news to the rest of the Weasley family. Hermione expects them to be shocked, especially Ron, but maybe the Weasleys won't be as surprised as she thinks. Entry for the Twin Exchange November 2012 Challenge.


**A/N: This is my entry for the Twin Exchange November 2012 Challenge. The prompt was family dinner and the quotes I used were "Don't use that tone with me!" and ****"When will you learn you can't party like you used to?"**

* * *

"You're coming to dinner tomorrow, right?"

"What dinner?" Hermione asked, glancing at George as she hurried around her living room, trying to restore it to its usual state: clean and organized. She had been swamped with work lately and organization had slipped away from her. Empty glasses and a few plates from leftover dinners—rushed ones at that—littered the coffee table and the end table beside the couch, papers and books were piled on the table and the floor.

"You know, the one Mum has every weekend where the entire family, plus the two unofficial members—you and Harry-get to catch up on all the very exciting things that happened to them in seven days' time."

Hermione sighed and stopped in her tracks, looking up at the ceiling. "I completely forgot."

George smirked and glanced at her from where he was lounging on the couch. "It's not like you've been going to these family dinners weekly for the past two and a half months, right? I completely understand why you forgot."

Hermione sent him a look. "Honestly, George, I'm not in the mood right now. You know how swamped I've been with work. It's terrible. It's never been like this before."

"You've only been working at the Ministry for two months. Not a lot to go on, really."

"I meant since I've started working there!" Hermione said, picking up George's legs so she could replace a fallen pillow.

"We could always skip the dinner," George said, smirking and raising an eyebrow.

"No," Hermione said. "If I did skip it, it would be so I could catch up on work, _not_ so we could have the day to ourselves. Besides, you know how much these dinners mean to your mother. She likes having them to be able to see everybody. I expect it's gotten quite lonely now that all of her children have moved out—except Ginny of course, but she'll be leaving for her last year of school soon. The Burrow will be empty."

"You're right," George sighed. He watched her frantically circle the room once more. When she passed the couch again, he reached up and grabbed her waist, gently pulling her down on the edge of the couch. "Sit for a minute, Hermione. I'm getting exhausted just watching you."

"Well, I suppose it's a good thing you're lying on my couch, then," Hermione sniffed, crossing her arms.

George smiled. "Anyway, I think it's best that we do go to dinner tomorrow. We actually have news to share for once."

Hermione looked at him. "How do you think they'll react? Do you think they'll be shocked?"

"Maybe," George said. "Well, Ron especially since he never picks up on anything. He has to be actually hit in the face with the news for him to get it. Ginny probably picked up on it, though, since she's so observant. I'll bet she won't be all that surprised. Fred knows already, so we don't have to worry about him…." George shrugged and trailed off.

Hermione chewed on her lip. "Do you think they'll be angry at me?"

George laughed and twirled one of Hermione's curls around his finger. "Why would they be mad? We're only announcing that we've been dating. It's not like we eloped and now you're pregnant."

Hermione sighed. "Yeah, but we've been dating for nearly three weeks and never said a word. There were two family dinners where we could have said something, but didn't."

"We weren't ready, that's all," George shrugged. "Now we are."

"Remind me why we weren't ready again?" Hermione sighed. "It would have been so much easier to get it over with and tell them straight away."

"It was your idea," George laughed. "You were too nervous and weren't ready for people to know yet. Especially Ron, correct?"

Hermione sighed. "Yeah, especially Ron. I think he and I both thought we had something, but I realized that there's really nothing between us. I just hope he feels the same way."

"Whether he does or not, he's still going to be shocked," George said. "Like I said, he doesn't always pick up on stuff easily. But the rest of the family won't be too bad. Mum and Dad will be happy, Ginny will be thrilled, and Bill and Fleur will love it. I mean, there's not a lot to worry about. The news can't be that shocking, can it?"

"Us dating sometimes can seem as unlikely as a relationship between Crookshanks and Scabbers…well, before Scabbers was Wormtail, of course. You and I are almost like night and day, George."

"Maybe that's why we work so well. Maybe it's not as unlikely as you seem to think," George whispered. "Maybe, once you think about it, it makes perfect sense."

Hermione turned and smiled at him, gently pushing a piece of hair out of his eyes. "You really think that?"

George nodded. "I solemnly swear."

Hermione smiled a bit wider.

"Don't worry about a thing," George said confidently. "Everything will be completely fine."

"Haven't you ever heard of the saying _no news is good news_?" Hermione asked. "Maybe if we don't say anything it'll be better."

George laughed. "Hermione, we can't just keep this from them forever. Besides, that saying seems like utter rubbish to me."

"It's not," Hermione said. "It makes a lot of sense, actually."

"Alright, well in this case, it's stupid. Forget about that saying right now. In this case, our news is good news. Really, it's only Ron you're worried about, isn't it?"

"Well, yes," Hermione shrugged.

"Think of how silly that is," George said calmly. "Firstly, you've spent enough time worrying about him. Secondly, if you think about it, it's a bit ridiculous to worry about his reaction. He'll get over it, firstly. Secondly, we can deal with whatever remarks he throws at us. We've both known him long enough to be able to do that. Thirdly, it'll be kind of funny to see him react, don't you think? It'll be funny to see him get all worked up."

"Maybe for you," Hermione sighed.

George smiled and ran a hand up and down her arm. "Honestly, Hermione, don't stress. You have enough on your mind. It'll all work out in the end. Promise."

Hermione half-smiled and nodded. "Okay," she whispered, leaning down to kiss him.

* * *

Silence. That's what initially met George and Hermione's announcement the next day at dinner. Everyone else had already filled the family in on any and all news of the past week and finally, George had spoken up and broken the news of his and Hermione's relationship.

"Is anyone going to say something?" George whispered. "Are you all really that surprised?"

"I'm not," Ginny shrugged, grinning.

"I'm not surprised, either," Fred added, grinning and taking a sip of his firewhiskey as he rocked his chair back on two legs.

"You knew already, you git," George laughed. He looked at his parents. "What about you two?"

"I must say," Mrs. Weasley said, grabbing Fred's chair and pulling it so it was steadily on the floor again before sending him a glare. She hated when people tipped their chairs back. Looking back at George, she sent him a small smile before continuing. "I'm thrilled, honestly, and not all that surprised, but I'm a little hurt that you two didn't tell us right away."

"It's only been two and a half weeks," George said. "Besides, we didn't feel ready."

"Why not?" Mrs. Weasley asked, putting her hands on her hips. "We're your family."

Hermione was the one who opened her mouth to answer the question, but before she could get a word out, Ron spoke up.

"Hang on…you're _dating_?"

"Yes, Ronnie," George said slowly. "Caught up, have you? I swear it takes you longer and longer to process information with each passing day."

Ron's ears turned bright red. He looked at Hermione. "I thought—you—during the battle—we, er…." He could barely get the words out, never mind form a complete sentence.

"Yes, about that," Hermione sighed. "I thought it was mutual that there was no spark. I mean, the wars been over for a few months now. It's been a few months since that kiss and you never mentioned it again. When I tried to bring it up to see where we stood, you avoided answering like the plague. I thought you didn't want a relationship and I came to realize that I didn't really want one either. So," she shrugged, "I moved on."

"Yeah, with my brother!" Ron said, shaking his head in disbelief. "You can't just go dating my brother after we-,"

"After you what?" George chimed in. "You and Hermione never dated, as she's just said. You can't go around avoiding discussing a relationship and then get angry when she chooses someone else."

"Yeah, but my brother!"

"This is why we didn't want to say anything," Hermione sighed, looking around at the rest of the table. "I'm sorry. I was just scared of this reaction."

Ron's ears turned even redder. "Oh, sure, blame me, just like you always did. _I'm _the one who messes everything up. Of course."

"Don't use that tone with me!" Hermione snapped. "You deserve blame because you're reacting just like I feared. Like George said, you have no right to act like this. Maybe if you hadn't avoided talking after the kiss, things could have been different. Although, I doubt it." She leaned back and crossed her arms.

Ron's shoulders slumped and he looked down at his feet. He felt terribly and Hermione could tell. She sighed and spoke again, this time in a gentler tone. "I thought you felt the same way. I thought you didn't feel anything when we kissed. I thought that's why you avoided answering my questions."

"At first I thought there was something," Ron said honestly, "but I think it was in the heat of the moment." He looked up at her and half smiled. "After that, it's like it all faded. But I didn't want to tell you that because I thought you still really liked me. I thought you'd be hurt if I came right out and told you I didn't feel anything anymore. Honestly, I was afraid of you setting more birds on me."

Hermione actually laughed. "No, I think I'm past setting birds on people."

"If I had only known you wouldn't have been angry, I would have said something," Ron said. "I'm sorry. And as far as you and George…it'll be odd at first. Like Harry dating Ginny. But I'll get used to it."

"It'll be a long process," Harry chimed in, looking at Hermione and George. "Good luck."

"Well, as long as Ron is willing to try," Hermione said.

Everyone turned to look at Ron, who stared back at them all before nodding. "I'll try. I really will."

"Thanks, Ron," George said, smiling. "It's appreciated."

Hermione smiled at Ron as well. "Yes, it really is. It means a lot."

"Yeah, maybe you're not such a prat after all, Ron," Fred added, laughing.

"Piss off," Ron muttered.

Fred just laughed harder. Suddenly, his eyes widened as he lost his balance and his chair tipped over backwards. He hit the ground with a thud and his firewhiskey splashed all over his face.

Now it was Ron's turn to laugh. The rest of the room was totally silent, but they soon joined in along with Fred himself.

"I always told you tipping your chair back was dangerous," Mrs. Weasley said. "Now maybe you'll listen to me."

"Honestly, Fred, when will you learn that you can't party like you used to?" George asked, reaching out to help Fred up.

Hermione, who was giggling uncontrollably, leaned against George's shoulder. "I can't believe this is the family I chose to associate myself with," she laughed.

George grinned and kissed her forehead. "I'm glad you did, though."

"So am I," she said as her laughter slowed. "With all the work I've been swamped with, I need family dinners like this. In some strange way, I think they keep me sane."

"I thought _I_ kept you sane," George said, smirking.

"Partly," Hermione shrugged. "The rest of the time, you're contributing to driving me _in_sane."

"Glad I could be of assistance," George whispered, kissing her hand while keeping his eyes on hers. Hermione blushed.

"I really shouldn't have worried," she whispered.

"Yeah, Ron didn't set the house on fire like you thought he would."

"Oh, please, don't exaggerate."

"He seemed to take it pretty well, all things considered," George said. He smirked. "Want to test our luck even further?"

"What do you suggest?" Hermione asked, raising an eyebrow.

George glanced at Ron before leaning in and gently giving Hermione a kiss.

"Oi," Ron began, but there was a _thwack_ as Ginny hit him on the head with a rolled up newspaper.

"Leave them alone. You made a promise," she said.

"I said I'd _try_," Ron argued.

"Doesn't look like you're trying," George said in a singsong voice before leaning in to kiss Hermione once more. Ron was silent, but George knew he was scowling. He resisted the urge to chuckle. Hermione may have been nervous about Ron's reaction, but George was finding the hilarity in it, as only a Weasley twin could do.

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**A/N: Thanks for reading and don't forget to review/vote for your favorite entry on the Twin Exchange profile starting November 20th!**


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